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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. GRUSON & M. SGHUMANN ARMOR PLATED GUN CARRIAGE.

No. 295,246. Patented Mar. 18. 1884.

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H. GRUSON & M. SGH'UMANN ARMOR PLATED GUN CARRIAGE.

No. 295,246. I atented Mar; 18, 1884.

(No Model.) I 4Sh88tS-Sheet3.

H. GRUSON 8t M. SOHUMANN.

ARMOR PLATED GUN CARRIAGE.

Patented Mar. 18:, 1884.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

H. GRUSON 85 M SCHUMANN ARMOB. PLATED GUN CARRIAGE.

No. 295,246. Patented Mar. 18, 1884.

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TEST INVENTORS.

%a?%w/zw/ M HERMANN GRUSON, OF BUGKAU, NEAR MAGDEBURG, AND MAX SOHUMANN,

' OF MAGDEBURG, PRUSSIA, GERMANY.

ARMOR-PLATED GUN-CARRIAG E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 295,246, dated March 18, 1884.

Application filed April 19. 1M3. (1Y0 model.) Pahnterl in Belgium February 98,1883, NQJFOATG; in England March 10,1883,

' No. 1,288; in Italy May 16, 1883, XXX, 4'24, and in France July 6, 1883, No. 154,131.

To all whom it may concern.-

balances the gun-carriage in such a manner Be it known that we, HERMANN GRUsoN, of that by bearing upon the lever I? one man can Buckau, near Magdeburg, Prussia, German Empire, and MAX SCHUMANN, of Magde-burg,

5 Prussia, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in and relating to Armor- Plated Gun-Carriages, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to armor-plated gunxo carriages having minimum embrasures and capable of being rotated when desired.

.The accompanying drawings illustrate various modes of constructing the said gun-carriages in accordance with ourinvention.

In Figures 1 and 1, A represents a gun resting by means of its trunnions on'a crosshead, B, which, together with the said gun, can be raised or lowered at will by means of a hydraulic piston, G, which is directly connected to the cross-head B. In its vertical movement the gun A will bear against the upper or lower edge of the embrasure in such a manner that on the movement being continued the gun will turn upon its trun- 2 5 nions. and thus the desired elevation for firing 3 5 tical axis by one man by means of the rod K.

To insure accuracy of aim, it is of importance that the gun-carriage shall stand firm while the gun is being fired. This result is obtained by depressing the lower rollertrack,

40 H, until the armored shield E rests upon the front armored shield, G. The roller-track II is for this purpose made to fit like a ring or sleeve upon the external surface of the hydraulic cylinder, so that it is free to move vertically thereon, and rests by means of two shoulders upon the bearing N, which is fitted to one extremity of the lever P. This lever turns upon the fulcrum O, and carries a counterweight, Q, which approximately counteneasily raise the entire mechanism while another man turns the same by means of the rod K. The

gun is thus brought to the required elevation by raising or lowering the piston C, while the lateral adjustment of the gun is effected by turning the entire guncarriage, after first slightly raising the roller-track H for this purpose, by means of the lever I. The piston 0 moves up and down in the fluid-receptacle G, and the latter is connected by a pipe, 0;, to a second fluid-receptacle, T. This second receptacle is provided with a piston, T, having a weight, 10, attached to and superimposed above it. Upon the upper surface is attached a chain or rope, 1), moving over pulleys o and o, and attached to a winch, L, having a wormscrew, L, and a handle to operate the described mechanism. If the crank of the handwinch be turned, the gun will be raised, for the weight w, bearing on the piston T, and consequently on the fluid in the receptacle T,drives the said fiuid through the pipe as and into the fluid-receptacle G,which will raise the piston G, and consequently the gun A.

The principal advantages of the construction above described consist, therefore, in the reduction of the power required for handling the gun as effected by the combination of a shield with the gun-carriage. This arrange ment can be adapted to all descriptions of guns, and particularly to mortars. -As the trunnions are frequently too weak to prop erly withstand a recoil, an accurately fitting cover or strengthening-piece is. fitted upon the rectangular shoulders of the said trunnions, which cover extends outward in the form of a ring of sufficient resistingcap acity,and incloses the trunnions. The mode of attaching the cover or piece is shown in Fig. 2.

The above described construction is designed to facilitate the turning and raising of the gun-carriage; but in that shown in Figs. 3 and 4 an additional object is gained. The gun in this case is designed to serve as a protection against an attack on the fortified place, and. consequently must be made inaccessible to the enemys fire-that is to say, so that it can be raised above the parapet or shield only at the desired moment and its fire be directed against the storming parties.

Grepresents the front shield, E the shieldcover, A the gun, and D the gun-carriage proper, which rests upon a hydraulic piston, O, in the cylinder 0, which communicates with acylinder, T, whose piston T is weighted to obtain the necessary pressure whereby the gun can be raised, and can belowered by winding up a chain with the winch L and raising the said piston and weight, as de-' scribed with reference to Fig. 1. The front shield on the side that is situated away from the enemy is provided with a recess intowhich the front part of the gun-barrel can be lowered. The gun rests upon trunnions in the ordinary manner; but the embrasure can be.

very small, because it is close to the trunnions and takes part in the horizontal movement. When the gun is to be fired, the gun-carriage is first raised, and then by means of the rods K the mouth ofthe gun is directed toward the enemy, the-piston 0 serving as a pivot.

Fig. 4: shows a modification of this construction inwhich, instead of employing the communicating hydraulic cylinders, the raising of l the piston G is efi'ected by means ofehains,

which pass over rollers or pulleys and are loaded with a weight, Q. In other respects the arrangement is the same.

.draulic pressure, as described, a lowering de vice consisting ofa winch, L L. having a cord, 0, moving over pulleys '0 and o,for raising the Weight w and withdrawing the hydraulic pressure and permitting the gun-carriage to descend, substantially as described.

The combination of the armor-plated.

shield having a minimum embrasure, as de scribed, with a gun-carriage adapted to be elevated and supported by a piston, O, and to be rotated in a horizontal plane with the piston O as apivot-point, or upon the roller-t1'ack,wlien the carriage has been slightly raised, in combination with the cylinder C, the connectingpipe :0, the cylinder T, piston T, and the-superimp'osed weight w, controlled by a winch, substantially as set forth.

HERMANN GRUsoN. MAX SOHUMANN.

Witnesses:

JULIUS VON So'J'HTz, EMIL KIRLLUMKEY. 

